Wow -- this calls for some kind of cell-ebration... just not sure what exactly!

For a while now I've been wanting to make a LifeViewer animation with a wandering viewpoint in a field of gliders heading in all directions, such that a whole pile of syntheses occur one after another, just when the viewport pans across each construction location.

But I suppose a single pattern with syntheses for all 619 fourteen-bit still lifes might be a bit of a stretch.

Anyway, some kind of new article ought to show up on the conwaylife.com main page, fairly soon. Donations of appropriate showcase patterns to decorate the article would be much appreciated.

(Actually, please feel free to donate the whole article if you want. I'm happier as a copy editor than a writer, really.)

Goldtiger997 wrote:I'm planning on attempting to find syntheses for all still lifes 15 bits and under, with less than one glider per bit. We have already done up to 14 bits.

I have done the first ten listed with syntheses greater than or equal to one glider per bit that appear on mniemiec's website. ... Anybody want to help...

This is probably the next best step, as far as the still-lifes are concerned. As of yesterday, I had 19 remaining 15-bit still-lifes at 1 glider per bit, and 94 at greater than 1 glider per bit. This does not yet include Bob Shemyakin's work at completing the synthesis of the remaining 15-bit still-lifes. (I still need to assimilate those, and see if any alternate synthesis paths might be more optimal, especially in light of some of the new converters that have been discovered in the past year).

All but one of the above syntheses (#4) improve the state of the art. Congratulations! 6 of them can be slightly improved, by tightening up initial still-life synthesis and/or final cleanup:#1 (15.5): Reduced from 13 to 12 (row 1 left).#3 (15.38): Reduced from 12 to 11 (row 2 left).#4 (15.45): Reduced from 14 to 11 (row 3 left). However, this is obsolete; you had previously built this from 12 gliders on 2016-10-14; BlinkerSpawn had reduced it to 11, and I had reduced it to 10. (row 4 left).#6 (15.79): Reduced from 10 to 9 (row 1 right).#7 (15.80): Reduced from 13 to 12 (row 2 right).#8 (15.92): Reduced from 13 to 12 (row 3 right).

In Mark Niemiec's database SL 14.492 marked as 9G and are 2 synthesis. The first synthesis contains 8 gliders and does not work. The second synthesis contains 14 gliders. I managed to reduce it to 12 gliders:

Goldtiger997 wrote:I'm planning on attempting to find syntheses for all still lifes 15 bits and under, with less than one glider per bit. We have already done up to 14 bits.

I have done the first ten listed with syntheses greater than or equal to one glider per bit that appear on mniemiec's website. ... Anybody want to help...

This is probably the next best step, as far as the still-lifes are concerned. As of yesterday, I had 19 remaining 15-bit still-lifes at 1 glider per bit, and 94 at greater than 1 glider per bit. This does not yet include Bob Shemyakin's work at completing the synthesis of the remaining 15-bit still-lifes. (I still need to assimilate those, and see if any alternate synthesis paths might be more optimal, especially in light of some of the new converters that have been discovered in the past year).

All but one of the above syntheses (#4) improve the state of the art. Congratulations! 6 of them can be slightly improved, by tightening up initial still-life synthesis and/or final cleanup:#1 (15.5): Reduced from 13 to 12 (row 1 left).#3 (15.38): Reduced from 12 to 11 (row 2 left).#4 (15.45): Reduced from 14 to 11 (row 3 left). However, this is obsolete; you had previously built this from 12 gliders on 2016-10-14; BlinkerSpawn had reduced it to 11, and I had reduced it to 10. (row 4 left).#6 (15.79): Reduced from 10 to 9 (row 1 right).#7 (15.80): Reduced from 13 to 12 (row 2 right).#8 (15.92): Reduced from 13 to 12 (row 3 right).

mniemiec wrote:All but one of the above syntheses (#4) improve the state of the art. Congratulations! 6 of them can be slightly improved, by tightening up initial still-life synthesis and/or final cleanup:

Thanks. I'm not currently trying to optimize the syntheses I make, just make them below 15 gliders. I stop improving them once they're below 15 gliders.

BobShemyakin wrote:In Mark Niemiec's database SL 14.492 marked as 9G and are 2 synthesis. The first synthesis contains 8 gliders and does not work. The second synthesis contains 14 gliders. I managed to reduce it to 12 gliders: ...

Eek! Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I'm not sure what happened there. Not only does the synthesis not work, but it takes 8 gliders, not the 9 indicated. The 4-glider add-tail converter fails, but another 5-glider one works, making this still 9 gliders:

Impressive! I actually tried the first half of the 15.17 reduction (I have 5 3-glider collisions that make those 2 blocks, all of which involve a glider into a B-heptomino, and including the same one you used), but for some reason, it didn't look like it would work. I have never built up a collection of 3-glider collisions that make constellations involving more than 2 objects, nor those with traffic lights; it seems like they can be useful after all!